A big community victory occurred in Seattle as King County became the first
county in the nation (following NYC’s lead) to both ban trans fat in all
restaurants and require menu labeling in chain restaurants. Steps played an
important role in mobilizing constituents from community-based organizations
(CBOs), community residents and the health sector to support this effort.
(http://www.metrokc.gov/Health/news/07071901.htm)

Pinellas County, FL…Rated First in the Nation by the
National School Lunch Report Card

Every year, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
dietitians analyzes the elementary school meals available at 22 of the
largest districts that participate in the National School Lunch Program.
Pinellas County is this year’s top-rated school! PCRM highlighted the
variety of options available to Pinellas County school students, including a
number of vegetarian options, free juice, and soy milk, which made Pinellas
County stand out. The Committee also highlighted the Steps–supported
nutrition education program called Teen Cuisine where older students partner
with local chefs to create cooking shows for younger children. The shows
feature healthy recipes consistent with the food service department’s
“Health Tips of the Month.” In addition, from 2006–2007, two nutrition
education specialists gave nutrition education lessons to nearly half of all
elementary students on the benefits of eating fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains. As a result of Steps efforts, Pinellas County has improved steadily
over time, from receiving a B in 2003 to becoming the nation’s leading
school in healthy options. Way to go Pinellas County!

Medicare Prevention Bus Tour…..DeKalb County, Alabama,
and Pinellas/Hillsborough Community Visits

In April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched A Healthier US
Starts Here prevention bus tour that focuses on motivating seniors and
others to make the most of preventive services. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention is one of an array of HHS agencies participating in
the initiative.

The CMS prevention bus tour, which wraps up in August, visited each of the
48 continental United States to promote conversations between people with
Medicare, families, caregivers, health professionals, and community
organizations. During the nationwide tour, the CMS bus visited several Steps
communities, including Luzerne County, PA, Dekalb County, GA, Pinellas and
Hillsborough counties in FL and Alabama. Visits also are planned for
Seattle, WA, California, and Arizona, which all have Steps communities.

The visit to Dekalb County on July 20, 2007, resulted in a successful event
that garnered media coverage and also was highlighted on the “CDC Connects”
Internet page. CDC Director Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, along with Roger
Perez, HHS regional administrator, and Chris Downing, HHS regional director,
participated in the event, which was held at The Lou Walker Senior Center, a
partner of the DeKalb County Steps Program. Atlanta’s FOX 5 News affiliate
featured the story during the local news broadcast.

Subsequent visits to Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and Alabama, held
July 25–26, 2007, also were successful and emphasized the importance of
Steps' main objectives to increase healthier behaviors and improve the
quality of life for all Americans.

The IOM Roundtable was held at the Harris-Stowe State University and had
paper presentations on the Eight Americas: Investigating Mortality
Disparities across Races, Counties, and Race-Counties in the United States
by Christopher Murray, and Clinical and Community-development Approaches to
Reducing Disparities by Edward Lawlor and Carol Horowitz.

Lisa Pivec from the Cherokee Nation Steps Program and Mary McFadden from
the New York Steps Program in Broome County both presented on the work they
are doing to reach at risk populations. Capt. Nancy Williams presented an
overview of the Steps Program and how it tied the clinical and community
development approaches together. Janis Campbell from the Oklahoma REACH
program and Charmaine Ruddock from the Bronx Health Reach program also
shared some of their successful activities. The meeting was a great
opportunity for Steps communities to spread the word about the work they are
doing to address health disparities.

Steps Program Office Updates……Steps Website (success
stories and heroes speeches) and Program Staff

Steps Web site
Since our last newsletter, we are pleased to announce the posting of three
additional “Community Success Stories.” Please visit this link
http://www.cdc.gov/steps/success_stories/index.htm to read about
successful chronic disease prevention activities taking place in Chelan,
Douglas, and Okanagon counties in Washington State, Colorado, and Fayette,
PA. In addition, please visit this link
http://www.cdc.gov/steps/2007_heroes/recipients.htm to view the video
clips of the acceptance speeches from our 2007 Steps Heroes Award winners.

Program StaffMaisha Kambon will be attending The University of South Florida’s Applied
Anthropology program, concentrating on Medical Anthropology and Community
Health. She will continue to work part-time with the Steps Program, working
on the community success stories compilation and other Steps program
publications and documents. We wish Maisha much success with her exciting
new opportunity!

Kathy Heiden has accepted a detail to the CDC’s Division of Injury Response,
Office of the Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC),
Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control (CCEHIC).
Kathy will be reporting to the Division of Injury Response for the next 4
months. She will be conducting a systematic review of published research
related to the efficacy of universal design features for preventing elderly
falls; revising the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for several Core
State Injury programs; supporting the State Injury Prevention Director’s
Association as well as supporting the dissemination and promotion of the
division’s launching of the Youth Sports Traumatic Brain Injury Prevention
Toolkit. We wish Kathy a great experience with her detail.

Stella Cory, MD, MPH, joined the Steps Program as part of the Surveillance
and Evaluation Team on August 20, 2007 as a health scientist. She is coming
from the Prevention Effectiveness and Health Economics Branch, Career
Development Division where she was the program lead evaluator. Her
educational background includes a Medical Degree from the Samarkand Medical
School in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and a masters degree from Emory University
in Health Policy and Management.

On June 21, CDC’s Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity name was
changed to the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO).
Among other changes, the new DNPAO features a separate branch devoted to
obesity science and a new branch focused on accelerating the translation and
application of evidence-based programs.

Heart Healthy and Stroke Free: A Social Environment
Handbook…..just published

Heart
Healthy and Stroke Free: A Social Environment Handbook, released by
the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, includes
specific strategies for identifying barriers for heart-healthy and
stroke-free living in local environments. It is written for a broad audience
(e.g., concerned community and state leaders along with public health
professionals) and is unique in that it focuses on the connections between
the social environment and preventing and treating heart disease and stroke.
All of the specific examples, tables, and worksheets relate directly to
heart disease and stroke risk factors, prevention challenges, and treatment
issues. For copies or inquiries, please e-mail
ccdinfo@cdc.gov.

Oral Health’s How to Book…..New CDC
Resource to States on How to “Sell” Their Programs
The CDC’s Division of Oral Health has a newly developed tool,
Impact and Value: Telling Your Program's Story that provides state
public health programs with practical methods for documenting program
achievements. The workbook defines a success story, describes different
types of stories, and discusses methods for collecting and writing stories.
A data collection tool is also provided. To request a copy of the workbook,
contact ccdinfo@cdc.gov or cdcinfo@cdc.gov.

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